The stable and loving home the boys had known.
And Vanessa’s attempt to connect custody with ownership of my company.
She never called Vanessa a monster.
That mattered.
Instead, she said something I still remember.
“This case does not require the court to decide whether Ms. Reed is beyond redemption. People can change. Parents can regret terrible decisions. But regret alone does not entitle an adult to abruptly dismantle the lives of two children who have spent a decade building security elsewhere.”
The judge took a recess before ruling.
Those twenty-eight minutes felt longer than the previous ten years.
I sat holding Jeffrey’s hand.
George bounced one knee.
Vanessa sat across the hall with her attorney.
Once, she looked at the boys.
Not at me.
At them.
For the first time since her return, she didn’t look calculating.
She looked lost.
Part of me almost felt sorry for her.
